How can I adequately represent a week's worth of traveling, sight-seeing, thinking, feeling, and learning in a few paragraphs? Answer: I can't. So you'll just get a few quick shots of what's been happening in the city. Let's work backwards, shall we? Tonight I ate in a British pub for the first time, called The Greyhound. They served some seriously tasty food, including the world's biggest potato wedges with BBQ sauce and a deliciously hot, melty chocolate fudge cake. Yum. When we walked in, the man at the door asking for ID looked pretty bewildered to hear we weren't going to order any drinks, just...a meal. I hear that some of the others girls in our program asked some local Britons where they could get something to eat one night, and the group of boys they asked stared blankly at them for a bit before saying, "...Eat? We don't eat. We drink." So THAT'S how they do things here...
Ariel and I went to the Imperial War Museum this afternoon, after spending a VERY leisurely morning at home. Honestly, as much as I want to everything there is to see in England and not waste a minute of my time here, I really needed some time just to relax and read in bed. The War Museum was...pretty depressing. They did an excellent job with the exhibits we saw (The Children's War and the Holocaust Exhibit), and I appreciated the way they focused on individuals and their stories. That, to me, is what history is all about--the PEOPLE and how events affect them. They had a model of what a WWII home looked like, and I sort of chuckled when I came to the room that obviously belonged to a teen girl, with her dress laid out on her bed, a picture of Hugh Grant above her vanity, and pictures of a dashing young soldier boy by her bed. I compare that to the rooms of my roommates in college and realize that times haven't changed much.
So, I'm finally coming to really enjoy being in London. I like just walking around the city, navigating the Tube even if train lines are out of service, looking the right (or left) way
when crossing the street, hearing the rare British accent mixed in with all the foreign languages, enjoying the view passing below as I take a double-decker bus. Still, though, I need my breaks for greenery and nature. It took until Wednesday or Thursday this week for me to finally explore the sprawling Hyde Park just across the street from my flats. It is HUGE and so very, very beautiful. If it hadn't been so cold, I could have stayed there for HOURS frolicking among the walkways and trees and bushes and grass and flowers. The gardens outside of Kensington Palace, where Queen Victoria grew up, literally took my breath away. I also really enjoyed traipsing around Kew Gardens on Friday morning...and even if I was frozen the whole time, I didn't mind so much, because there were acres and acres of grass, trees, ponds, wildlife, flowers, shrubs, and general beauty on which to feast my soul. And it WAS feast for the soul...
And afterward I purchased my first order of fish and chips, which was a finger-licking feast for the belly, too. Later in the afternoon a couple of us traversed the famous Portobello Road market, and I decided that if I were ever to work in an antique shop for a living, I would want to shoot myself in the face.So I've always known that an exciting event like running into Elena Oliver brings a smile to my face, but when such an event occurs unexpectedly on the streets of London, the excitement level is kicked up a notch or six, and the smile is at least thirteen times wider. Hooray for the safe arrival of Elena and Cebre and the rest of the BYU Choral Music Study Abroad program in London, despite getting lost after having a map printed out, and I am SO excited that they both live just two floors down from me. Prepare yourself, London, for the biggest, longest party you've ever seen.
What else has this past week had in store for me? I was seriously overwhelmed by visiting the Tate Britain museum, and later the National Gallery. There are SO many beautiful pieces of art to be seen...I wish I could spend half an hour on each one, but there are a dozen or two per room and a dozen or two rooms in total in each museum. I'm glad that admission is free, because I will definitely be visiting those museums a few more times at least. Sarah wrote about our experience with Macbeth...and what an experience that was. Whew. I'm glad I like the rain, because otherwise standing in the pouring rain for the last few scenes of the play would have been hell...hah hah. I really like the feel of diversity in the city...this was especially underscored when we attended church on Sunday. People were there from all over the world, and it seemed that everyone there was a first-generation church member. It gave a different feeling to the congregation; I felt like together, we were all on the edge of something new, something big, something important. I felt like a pioneer. I felt like we were all responsible to contribute what we have to a greater cause.
Which brings me to a dream I had a few nights ago involving Paul Simon, a street performer we saw in Burough Market on Saturday, and a large Polynesian man. I don't remember too many details from it, but I was back in Burough Market where Paul Simon was performing El Condor Pasa. He was talking about the South American influences that had contributed to that song and the steel drum player at left was there too, playing his drum, and a large Polynesian man was there with his Polynesian sort of percussion. Together they were all playing different styles of music, but they were discussing it and collaborating and learning from each other. Paul was especially interested in the specific way Polynesian Percussionist was beating the drum, so the Polynesian Percussionist taught him what he was doing. It was fascinating to watch the musicians collaborate. And it struck me, when I woke up, that that's just how I feel about London--many people from all over, some experts in what they do, others just learning, all collaborating and learning from each other. I love it.
Wednesday was a big day. We took a trip to King's Cross Station and took pictures at Platform 9 3/4, and now my life is complete. We were standing around looking at the signs for the REAL platforms 9 and 10 when one of the workers rushed past us and, without any questioning from us, told us matter-of-factly that "Harry Potter is down that way!" Yay for being obvious tourists. We also visited 221B Baker Street, the famous residing place of Sherlock Holmes, and the house of Charles Dickens. Dickens lived on a lovely, quaint, quiet little tree-lined street, one that I definitely would not mind living on. With such beautiful, peaceful scenery, it's no wonder he was able to sit and write such long works. Wednesday I was also witness to an ATM robbery. Lesson learned: ALWAYS be on your guard, because things like that happen FAST. Fortunately, nobody was physically harmed...just financially hurt and perhaps slightly emotionally scarred. Well I think I will close for the night. Hopefully I will be a bit more diligent in blogging so the posts don't have to be as long. Until next time!
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